One Week
by Rawrsomez
Summary: Lucy receives a mysterious parcel that changes her fate forever. She'll be taking quite the detour before she can tell Natsu everything . Does he feel the same way? And can she be saved before it's too late? Or is there maybe more to the story than meets the eye? All the NaLu angst and feelsies. T for infrequent bad language. R&R?
1. 0 - aboulia

**0**

 **aboulia:**

 **-an absence of willpower or an inability to act decisively**

* * *

Clothes littered the floor. A chair was upturned; every picture frame knocked so it's motionless inhabitants faced the earth below. Empty bottles – evidence of the 'race' with Cana that had lasted all of 2 minutes (and a half, he would argue) – lined the edge of the room near the door. Smoke that furled its way up his body - a result of his restless power - was accompanied by the sickening scent of too-old food that wafted from the fridge through the room, and to any innocent bystander it would seem like the thick smoke was the cause of the smell. Assorted wrappers and letters and clothes that were losing their familiar scent lay strewn around the apartment in a delicate pattern that he had come to recognise as his regular surroundings. He made sure not to disturb them, if he ever moved at all.

The blinds were down because he despised looking at the window, the two thin slivers of light that peeked out from either side framing the room. Even seeing it out of the corners of his bloodshot eyes had been infuriating. How dare this inanimate piece of glass remind him of what seemed like distant memories? How could it bear to continue to defy his wishes by suggesting there was more to life than these four walls? It had felt like the un-living thing was mocking him with a poisonous grin, and hence, the blinds were shut.

There would have been piles of dish upon dish in the sink, were it not for the fact that he had ceased to eat. He had no appetite. He hungered for something of impossible proportions.

And there it was. All it took was for him to think about it. The trigger on the gun inside his head had been pulled.

Fuck.

Everything came crashing down, although nothing moved around him.

The walls seemed to draw nearer with every laboured breath he took as he slammed back against the surface behind him. Once again, the shaking returned to his weary body and his skin felt like it was being stretched, pulled, and manipulated until there was an impossible tension residing in every inch of him. A book fell swiftly from the desk he had disturbed. Recognising it immediately, he felt a rush of warmth that disappeared all too soon as he thought of the uncompleted novel that lay within. Joining the rest of the mess on the floor, it came to rest with its spine flat and pages open for his viewing. The pages were regrettably blank, blank like he wished his head – and his heart – could be.

A mewling sigh, the gentle pad of miniature feet, and the pressure of one firm paw on his own trembling hand informed him he was not alone in his despair.

In. Out. In. Out. In and out and in and out.

Breathe, dummy, breathe.

Fortunately, the tremors in his body ceased, the room stopped spinning, and the feeling that wasn't much unlike the aftermath of being stabbed in the gut slowly subsided.

He'd been on a relatively clean streak for a few days now; he had hoped the 'attacks', as he'd not-so-fondly named them, would have finally gone away.

For some reason, the open book that lay to his left kept on catching his attention. As much as he wished he wasn't entranced by the metaphors it sparked inside him, his mind betrayed him and spun an intricate picture of how this book represented and embodied him. An unfinished story; adventures yet to tell, places yet to see, people yet to meet. He had pages yet to fill.

After three months in a seemingly endless rut, the stupidity of his actions was finally dawning on him. What was he doing? This wasn't even his house. He was solving nothing, fixing none of the broken mosaics inside his head by sitting not-quite-alone and saying, doing, _being_ nothing all day. He clenched a fist in the unchanged bed sheets at the revelation that this was not what _she_ would have wanted in the slightest.

And so the not-quite-a-man-yet rather clumsily scooped up the stunned exceed beside him and placed him on his shoulder.

And with that, setting off in the direction of the Fairy Tail Guild hall with one last look at the usual brickwork and a new resolve, was Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

 **(Clichéd foreboding opening chapter that is far too short? Check!)**

 **Side note – following chapters will definitely be much longer (hopefully a few thousand words each); this is a 'prologue' of sorts that I had originally written as a writing warm up for this story to set the scene in my head, but ended up liking it so much that I decided to use it here.**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and it's characters.**

 **Drop a review if you have the time, they're very much appreciated, and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. If you want to suggest any little events or scenes or possible sub-plots/plot points that you'd like to see – tell me! I make no promises but I will consider all feedback I receive.**

 **I do apologise for OOC moments; I'm not, by any stretch, an experienced writer at all and I'm still very much learning the ropes. My intentions are much more for my own fun and creative writing practice than for trying to actually make a serious story. But hey, it might turn into one if enough people dig my writing.**

 **This story has not been beta'd or checked through by anyone other than myself, so if there are any glaringly awful or obvious grammar/spelling mistakes please do let me know! (Also if you can come up with a better summary, I'd love it because summarising + me = laughable failure)**

 **My current aim is to update this on a weekly basis, but no promises because I am human after all! :D**

 **See ya next week! ^-^**


	2. 1 - relucent

**1 – Relucent**

 **-shining; bright**

 **April.**

The day Lucy received the mysterious parcel just happened to be the day that she had finally decided to come clean. Whether it was a complete and utter coincidence, or fate trying to warn her that it was a terrible idea, was something she still hadn't quite figured out the answer to as she looked back on it a week later.

Whilst she hid under her duvet as if there was someone in her apartment to hide from, relishing her last few moments of warmth, Lucy decided that today was _the day._

It had started with the opening of her window to the gasps of Magnolia's citizens and passers-by at the sight of the city's finest rainbow sakura tree drifting serenely down the river in a rather unceremonious terracotta plant pot. Lucy had considered it a stroke of inconceivable luck at the time, but at the next day's revelation that such a thing had come to pass because of Natsu, (and Happy, of course) and that they had gone to such efforts so that she alone could see the beautiful blossoms, Lucy had this bubbling feeling of an overwhelming happiness taking over every cell in her body, that was magnified by impossible proportions every time she came within a close proximity of the fire dragon mage. Every unforeseen hand-grab, every intrusive morning awakening, every impatient face-stuffing mealtime, every broad toothy smile, even in the face of death; it had been building up into this magnificent abundance of… well, just… _feeling_ in Lucy's body.

She had spent half of the following several months trying to convince herself otherwise. The other half had been spent pondering relentlessly over Levy's continued teasing sentence of 'There's no i in denial."

Lucy's protests of: "But there is, though!" were only met with fits of giggles.

But then, after all those months, she had accepted the way that she felt. Natsu was… Natsu, and even if he never realized the true meaning behind the ever-present blush in her cheeks, she decided the torture was worth the happiness, and sense of being alive, that he brought her. Acknowledging herself and her own emotions had been the key to unlocking her self-made shackles. Everything had seemed to slot into place. Her latest novel was well on the way to completion; her physical and magical strength was building at an impressive rate; her friendships with everyone in the guild blooming…

And yet she _still_ felt incomplete, after a new five months of blissful acceptance.

Though he had the strength and capability to reduce even an experienced army to nothing, Natsu was still very much a child at heart. Lucy hadn't even realized it at first, but she'd been subconsciously dropping hints of her attraction to the dragon slayer. Before joining Fairy Tail, she'd never have even conceived the notion that she would be audacious enough to experiment with behaviours of amorous intent. Yet she had caught herself red-handed. Choosing a shorter skirt to pack for a job if it was going to just be the two (three, she supposed) of them. Lingering wistfully on a goodbye or perhaps his heated hand after a job. Leaning in suggestively whenever his words _could_ have been hard for her to hear, although she heard every single syllable perfectly. It obviously hadn't amounted to much in his romantically oblivious brain.

So as Lucy bounded out of bed and into the shower, she resolved that today would be the day that she would ask him if he wanted to go for a little picnic, distract Happy with Carla and whisk Natsu off to enjoy some of Mira's fine cooking together in the balmy midday sun to tell him straight how she felt. If everything holding up their camaraderie was going to fall apart at the seams, she at least wanted one last friendly meal together. Instead of the fear she had presumed would accompany her in the decision, Lucy felt surprisingly content; excited almost, at the prospect of ending the yearlong torment she had subjected herself to.

Of course, her first clothing choice was her dark, durable boots. She ended up choosing a deep red, sleeveless halter-neck with a rather daring open back along with her 'sassiest' denim skirt, threading her trusty belt through the loops and attaching her fleuve d'étoiles with much more gusto than was necessary, trying to summon any extra energy she had. If she wanted to keep up with his inevitable darting conversation, she'd have to get fired up herself.

He seemed to like her most when she was at her wittiest, and she hoped the bright scarlet colour would bring connotations of both flame and romance to Natsu's mind. Knowing Lucy's luck, he'd probably associate it with Erza and be (more) afraid of her from now on for fear of taking a (more painful) beating. But this was _Natsu_ after all, so it was highly possible and most likely that he'd take one look, think: 'That's a red thing.' and consider nothing more of it.

At least Lucy was happy with herself and how she looked.

However, then, as her freshly showered, cutely dressed self eagerly opened the door to leave, she came face to face with a startled postman who had just been about to knock, arm and fist poised for action in mid-air.

"Oh!" Lucy squeaked in surprise. "Sorry!"

The postman smiled at the coincidence. "Hi there, miss. Are you… Miss Lucy Heartfilia?" He asked, glancing down at his clipboard to find her name.

Lucy nodded, cringing inwardly at the use of her full name. "That's me! Do you have something for me?"

"Yeah, I need you to sign… here as confirmation to the sender that this package has been delivered to the recipient." He said, signalling to the aforementioned signature space before holding out the clipboard with a pen. "I'll just go get your delivery, Miss."

As she mentally giggled at the formalities used by the postman, Lucy scanned the paper for any hidden tricks. She was constantly suspicious of these things, and she had to make sure she wasn't _actually_ joining some sort of dodgy class for secret ninjas that charged it's members ridiculous amounts of jewel per month. She already had enough to worry about with her rent. But, alas, her opportunity to become a covert assassin with a much lighter purse was not to be found here. The only thing half-amiss on the page that caught her apprehensive eye was the tiny lettering underneath the dotted line labelled as the signature space.

 _By signing this document, the recipient agrees to open the contents of the enclosed package/document within twenty-four hours of signing. This is a legally binding, magically infused contract. Should the conditions of the contract not be met, both clients on either end of the transaction will be alerted. The above signature can and will be used for prosecution and/or a fine, should a court-case arise._

"Hm." Lucy murmured. Those were conditions that she could live with.

And so she signed the contract.

Her immaculately printed name glowed a dull amber colour for a second. The glowing cloud lifted from the paper, swept up her right hand and danced like peachy flames around her wrist, feeling warm and pleasant, seemingly imprinting some invisible lettering on her pale skin. After returning to the signature, the cloud disappeared and Lucy was left staring at the original black ink that made up her name.

The postman returned with her parcel. Lucy had imagined it to be fairly large, considering the serious tone of the signature requirements, but it turned out that one of the sides or the cube-shaped box was a little shorter than her outstretched palm. It reached from the heel of her hand to the first knuckle of her middle finger, and each side was the same length. It was wrapped very carefully in that brown parcel paper Lucy loved the smell of, and she made a mental note to open it delicately so she could salvage the paper for the future's inevitable scented needs.

"Here ya go! Thanks!" Lucy cheerily smiled, as the postman walked away to continue his deliveries.

Lucy decided she would open it at the guild. She was already a little late as it was, and that bubbly feeling often threatened to turn into an unbearable itch if she went for too long without seeing Natsu. She'd stayed home yesterday, out of pure exhaustion (both magical and physical) from a weeklong job, and she supposed that the dragon slayer had known better than to intrude either then or this morning. There had been no sign of him whilst she was conscious, though she had the sneaking suspicion that he'd creeped in and stolen her fish stocks at some point whilst she was sleeping. When she'd gone to fix herself something for lunch, there had been a distinct lack of aquatic animal substances in her cupboards.

Walking to the guild, Lucy pondered the use behind the contract of opening deliveries within twenty-four hours. Maybe… hmm… it was probably for items like food with short expiry dates, or urgent business-y things that were not to go unopened. Or maybe it was for a secret council message of unimaginable importance that would automatically self-destruct within twenty-four hours?

Or perhaps she was overthinking the whole thing, and the sender was just a little paranoid.

Speaking of the sender, nothing had been written on the signature form about who had actually sent it. Lucy peered at every side of the parcel, hoping to find a tag with a name on it. She found it, clinging onto one of the vertices with a narrow bit of careless tape, but it wasn't the mystery name she had been hoping to discover.

It was her own.

 _To the dear Lucy Heartfilia,_

 _"_ _Every time someone says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."_

 _Unfortunately for you, I don't believe in fairies._

Lucy didn't need to know the sender's name to know that they sounded like a total sadistic creep. She recognised the bitter quote from Peter Pan, a childhood favourite book of hers. Her very distant uncle had gifted the beloved book to her shortly before her mother's death. But… fairies? Was this to do with Fairy Tail? Was someone in the guild in grave danger? Or was this an empty threat; an untimely April Fool's, and all she'd find inside was a mocking jack-in-the-box? 'The _dear_ Lucy'? Ugh. She wanted to vomit. Did they know her? Were they a stalker of her family? Had they tracked her down because they were after her zodiac ke-

"Luuuuushiiiii!" came a familiar joyful yell, along with the faint pounding of feet. "You're feeling better!"

"Aye, sir, it looks like she's all rested!" Happy announced with equal cheeriness, zooming ahead of his partner and swooping down to land by Lucy's feet, her previous hurricane of questions forgotten. He gave her bare shin a little affectionate hug, and she leaned over to gently pet his furry blue head several times in return. Natsu was still running towards her, looking full of energy.

"Let me guess – you were on your way to 'check on me'…" Lucy started.

Natsu burst into a wide grin, interrupting her. "We wanted to know if you were alrig-"

"And by 'check on me', you mean you were going to break into my house and climb in my bed?" Lucy continued, trying to keep a serious face although she knew the corner of her mouth was twitching upwards slightly.

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks a few feet away from her, searching for a plausible excuse to escape from Lucy's house-related wrath, but she'd hit the nail on the head. Although he was glad to see her up and out of her house, he was a little disgruntled that he was missing out on the warmth of her bed. That mattress of hers was heavenly. But, alas, his search for an excuse left him with nothing apart from an awkward hand on the back of his neck and a sheepish look on his face, searching her raised eyebrows and pink-tinged cheeks for a sign of forgiveness. That look told Lucy everything she needed to know, and she sighed in indignation before continuing to stroll in the direction of the guild.

Natsu walked with more of a spring in his step with Lucy by his side. He had seen a decent job up on the request board that the team of three could easily handle in two days at the most, but as he eagerly recounted the details, Lucy's usual outwards indifference seemed more defined; more prominent; more pronounced. Was she really not keen on the job? He'd picked it specially because it had sounded like something she would enjoy. The job paid 75,000 jewel and involved a hunt for a rich person's precious lost necklace (apparently is was full of super-rare knowledge that Natsu didn't care for) in some fairly nearby ancient stone ruins. Natsu found ruins boring, (What's so interesting about rocks? He couldn't burn rocks, and that made them boring) and so wouldn't have given the job a second thought if it were just him and Happy, but Lucy had recently taken a shining to ruins. Natsu pretended to believe it was just a new hobby that took her fancy, but he knew it was _really_ for the gathering of realistic scenery substance for the description of one certain haunting location in her novel. She'd rewritten the scene's descriptors several times in the multitude of recent drafts that he had _totally not read_ in secret. When she rejected a job under the usual circumstances, her neutral façade crumbled and she'd interrupt with a stern look and a firm 'no', but she looked almost… disappointed? Mavis, he needed to improve his people-reading skills. He wished he could understand her face. It was so confusing sometimes. Happy had seemed to sense that something was amiss too, from the way he peered at her with a slight frown from his perch on Lucy's left shoulder.

"Natsu, it sounds great, but I was… I was hoping today we could just relax, y'know, enjoy the Magnolia summer whilst it's still here? Wh…" She stopped herself from adding on a wistful 'Whilst _we're_ still here.' because she really did not want to entertain thoughts about her best friends dying today. Her fears would _not_ ruin this. "Summer is my favourite month, after all. We've been doing so much work lately that maybe just having a day to enjoy each other's company… would be good for us," Lucy spoke softly, not daring to look to her right for fear of the kind of eye contact with Natsu that would end in her blushing. She'd take staring at her feet like a timid rabbit over embarrassing herself in front of Natsu any day. That wasn't a complete lie. She did want to enjoy his company whilst she still could. "Could Mira save that job for us for tomorrow?" Biting the bullet, Lucy turned right-wards and gave a small hopeful smile, catching his eye and refusing to let it go, deciding that a blush was worth her convincing expression.

"I… I-er, I guess so… if that's what you want. What were ya thinking of doing today instead?" Natsu replied in the same soft tones, seeming to sense her slight sensitivity. Up ahead, the guild was just beginning to come into sight.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go for something stupid and silly like a picnic? Just a simple, carefree activity to relax ourselves." She asked, ignoring the quickly stifled snigger from the (now slightly shaking) blue cat on her shoulder. Damn that little exceed for guessing her intentions so soon. Happy really was rather clever sometimes.

Natsu smiled broadly, much to Lucy's relief. "Maaaaan, I haven't had a proper picnic in forever. Sounds great!" He walked along with both of his hands intertwined at the back of his neck, bending his knees much more than any sane person would as a result of his joy.

"Wait."

He stopped walking.

Lucy's heart stopped with him as she also came to a halt.

 _'_ _Natsu Dragneel, don't you dare back out of this now! I've put far too much thought into this for you to mess it up. Everything has been planned accordingly for the best possible outcome! I'm ready for this! You can't just do unpredictable Natsu-things_ all _the time.'_ She thought furiously to herself.

Natsu started parading again at a brisk pace.

Stumbling along to keep up with him, exasperation was plain on Lucy's face.

"We _have_ to sit in the clearing by the river just out of town. I've always thought it would be a great picnic spot! And Mira just _has_ to make me some of her new spicy shrimp dish!" The dragon slayer beamed.

Lucy nearly fell over her own feet. She silently thanked him in a bitter fashion for the mini bout of cardiac arrest he'd just graced her with.

"What's that, Lucy? Didja get Naaaatsu a special present?" Happy asked with one paw extended to the cube in her hands, a smug, shit-eating grin crossing his mouth as he teased her.

She ignored the latter question, the blush that erupted at the thought of getting Natsu something significant quickly hidden by a wave of golden strands due to her rapid hair flick. Thanks to the many snide, cheeky comments Happy frequently delivered, the technique of flicking hair to cover pink-tinged cheeks had been perfected by the celestial spirit mage. "Oh, I actually… have no idea! It's a package that was delivered for me this morning and I figured I could just open it at the guild." Lucy smiled, and as she spoke, she slyly tucked the attached label underneath the parcel, where her friends' eyes wouldn't see it. Her own doubts were unsettling enough, and she didn't want to worry them (or anyone else at the guild, for that matter) with something that might not matter. If the contents were less than pleasant or humorous, she'd show the guild.

"Do you know who it's from?" Happy inquired, leaning slightly against Lucy's ear in a fashion that was slightly ticklish and itchy.

Lucy shrugged. "Again, not an inkling. It didn't say who it's from."

"Natsu? Do you have any ideas?" The blue cat questioned. "Natsu?"

"Huh? Oh! …What?" Natsu replied, having been brought out of his own little world. Seeing the object they were speaking of once again, Natsu narrowed his eyes at the small brown cube, his back hunching over. The nearing guildhall cast a shadow over his tightened features, and the sight of him gave Lucy a paralysing feeling of apprehension. She didn't like the way Natsu was eyeing the parcel up like it was a battlefield enemy.

"Hey, er, N-Nat…su?" Lucy stammered, slowing her footsteps.

She could have sworn he growled.

"Nope. No clue." Natsu answered, straightening his back and nudging open the door of the guild, pupils darker than they'd seemed a few seconds previously.

Not even for a single second did he remove his eyes from the little beige box.

Looking back on the events that would follow now, he was grateful for the dragon-slayer senses he'd been blessed with.

A curious box with a nameless sender.

It smelt funny.

* * *

 **First update and I ended up away from home with snail internet so this is a day late! Sorry! Also thank you to those who are already following this story and left a review, it means a lot!**

 **Thanks for reading! Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and it's characters.**

 **Drop a review if you have the time, they're very much appreciated, and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.**

 **This story has not been beta'd or checked through by anyone other than myself, so if there are any glaringly awful or obvious grammar/spelling mistakes please do let me know!**

 **See ya next week! ^-^**


	3. 2 - eldritch

**2 – Eldritch:**

 **\- weird; sinister; eerie**

" ** _Hey!_** Flame-brain! You think it's _funny_ to put _beetles_ in my underwe-" Gray yelled, before trailing off and yelping at the sight of Natsu's face. "Natsu?"

But the dragon slayer paid him no attention; storming passed the bewildered ice mage - only stopping after Lucy did - his eyes transfixed on... her boobs? And Natsu called _him_ a pervert. Gray snickered to himself; he knew Natsu was a bit of a creep sometimes, but geez, he had no finesse. If you're gonna stare, don't make it so utterly obvious. And don't have such an intense expression on your face. He'd never before seen someone look at breasts so furiously before – in fact, he'd never seen _anyone_ be visibly angry with such things _at all_ ; what was there to hate about them? They were wondrous creations; Natsu really was a weirdo fo-

Oh.

 _Oh._

 ** _Oh._**

"Gray!" Lucy chirped rather nervously, snapping him out of his thoughts. Natsu was staring at the _box_ clutched in her left hand, not her lady bits. Considering it was Natsu, it made much more sense. A pink tinge washed over Gray's cheeks at the horrifying thought that perhaps he _was_ the pervert that Natsu claimed he was. "How have you bee-!" Lucy screeched, the vowel continuing for a few seconds before rising in pitch so it sounded like a comical question. It continued until she realized what was happening to her – at which point it died away in her mouth. Glancing over her right shoulder, she saw Natsu stomping towards the bar, dragging her with him, an iron grip on her right elbow. Happy floated above the two, rather disgruntled that his partner had hijacked his comfortable Lucy-shaped perch.

"Natsu! Stop it!" Lucy hissed, her half-whisper a result of the few confounded faces turned their way, cheeks flushing at the attention. "C-can you let up on the grip a – _Ow_! ... A little? His hand was really hurting her arm. She squeaked as he flung her onto a barstool, much to the horror of Mirajane.

She decided to intervene, not approving of his furious expression. "Hey! Treat your… _friend_ with a little more respect!" One of her hands went to her hips purely by instinct, the other gripping a glass and a polishing cloth. Leant over the bar to make herself clear, she managed to earn herself a slight glare from Lucy in return for the emphasis she'd placed on the word 'friend'. However, Mira was ignored as Natsu sat himself down to the right, opposite the celestial spirit mage, still staring at the parcel in her hands. When Lucy did nothing but look at him, he growled again, yanking the object away from her and setting it on the bar. With his eyes transitioned from their usual darkness into burning amber, Lucy perched on the last few centimetres of the front of the stool nervously, waiting for the worst to happen. He was going to do or say something abominable to her, she could tell.

"Nat-"

 **"** **Open it!"** Natsu roared.

Lucy flinched at the sudden shout, resisting the animalistic instinct to sprint anywhere but there that passed through her and instead shivered as a tremor tiptoed down the vertebrae of her spine. Happy landed gingerly on tiny blue toes behind Lucy, deciding that she was the safer bet considering Natsu's sudden mood change. Why was he acting like this? Lucy wondered for a split second whether her actions had caused him this frustration.

The transformation mage behind the bar furiously brought down the cup she had been polishing just moments before. Considering the force she applied to the glass, it was a miracle she didn't break it. " _Natsu Dragneel_! Get a hold of yourself!" Mirajane shrieked, shaking his right shoulder vigorously.

The sound of glass slamming into wood jolted Natsu out of the profound stupor he had been in. His eyes finally wandered from the package, as the sorry sight of a whimpering Lucy clutching her right arm registered for the first time in his mind. For a brief moment, he wondered what on earth she was fussing so much for, but nobody could have missed the five, branded finger-shapes peeking out from underneath her left hand in angry crimson shades. The stunned silence of the guildhall abated his thinking and left him feeling as if he were trapped in a dream. Disoriented, with a furrowed brow he looked around to seize and apprehend the culprit, but every single face in the guild was staring disbelievingly towards him, various different forms of worry and shock and _fear_ etched onto them. And so it dawned on him, his momentary amnesia gone.

Natsu blinked.

And stared at his own lap in shame.

He blinked again in an effort to halt the rapidly forming tears.

With slumping shoulders, Natsu steadied himself by gripping on tightly to the bar next to him. As he brought his wide eyes up to meet hers once again, the ability to form words was lost on him. The dragon slayer reached out his other arm to try comfort Lucy but she flinched, scooting back on the chair so that now she hung from the other end. She fumbled for a balanced position by resting her good elbow on a stool behind her. The afflicted right arm was poised over her body defensively, the bright, violent marks in plain view.

"Oh, Mavis… Lucy, I-" Natsu stretched his open palm towards her again in an attempt to somehow take away the pained look on her face. Not even he knew what had just happened. Something had just… come over him and filled him with aggression and an overwhelming desire to get as far away from Lucy as possible, which made no sense. He liked being around her – like, _really_ liked it. For an instant, the murkier corner of Natsu's brain managed to convince him that she thought of him as a monster; that she was _terrified_ of him. Although it was quickly shaken off, the possibility of it still lingered somewhere in the depths of his consciousness, and he was sure it would come back to haunt him at a later date. Natsu expected Lucy to burst into terrified tears and run away, declaring him a monster and vowing to never speak to him, to never grace him with even one glance ever again, just like she'd done in some of his more traumatising nightmares. However, this wasn't a torturous fabrication of his mind. He'd done this to her. He'd fucked up. Everything they'd done and achieved and established together would be reduced to nothing, the moment she turned away walked out.

But instead, the celestial spirit mage came forward and gently settled her cheek into his sweaty palm.

Natsu just looked at her, for quite a long time.

"Are you okay, Natsu? What happened?" Lucy murmured softly. She peered up at him through her thick eyelashes sweetly, much to his befuddlement.

"Am-Am _I_ okay? What about you? I'm the one that just nearly _tore your arm from your shoulder_ and you're worried about **_me_**?" He blurted hastily, not quite believing the words that she had just uttered to him. Almost on instinct, the pad of his thumb gently swept back and forth along her delicate cheekbone to reassure her that he was definitely his old self again. A murmur spread through the gathered throng of guild members.

Lucy smirked, nuzzling into his blazing hot hand as if it were a water bottle. "I'm not the one that just lost it over a parcel, Natsu," She said.

"Ah! Th-The parcel! Where did you put it, b-because you definitely-" The dragon-slayer babbled wildly, yanking his palm away from Lucy to look for the mentioned package only to make extremely awkward eye contact with everyone standing near them. "Uh, you guys? Y…You can go now, I guess? I'm A-OK!" He stammered, whilst Lucy started blushing as she too realised they were the centre of attention. At this, the majority of the surrounding guild members shuffled away shamefully, those that still remained endeavouring to appear as if they hadn't just been listening in to every word. Awkward poses and coughs ensued as people attempted to return to a socially acceptable state.

Waiting until everyone's noses were most certainly out of their conversation, Lucy then pressed the parcel into Natsu's hands. She made sure that the label was facing up, leaning into Natsu to shield the tag (and his inevitable reaction) from prying eyes.

"Read it." She ordered in a hushed voice, his now dark eyes darting to and fro the other guild members as he caught on to the secrecy she required from him. They continued to flit from side to side as he turned over the paper to read the words written in what he deemed to be excessively looped handwriting. Eventually the charcoal orbs met hers again when he had finished, but there were distinct elements of both confusion and worry in them that had not been present beforehand.

"Luce, is this what I think it is?" Natsu implored, eyes flicking between and searching her own for the answer he wished to hear.

Lucy sighed. "What _do_ you think it is?" She asked, hand sliding forward to retrieve the parcel from him. But Natsu kept his firm hold on the item.

"Hey, you can't open this. This guy sounds dangerous," He said, pausing to take a breath, glance downwards and lower his voice. "If anything happened to you-"

Trying to both wrestle the package from Natsu whilst also convince him turned out to be quite the challenging task. "Um, Natsu, I signed a contract. I-"

The dragon slayer froze. "Uh, _what_?"

"I _have_ to open this in the next 23 hours or so, or they'll charge a fine!" Lucy stated.

He jerked away.

"You _what_?"

"They… could also send me to prison." Lucy mumbled.

"They _what_?" Natsu demanded, becoming more and more agitated, whilst also seeming to lose the majority of his vocabulary.

Taking a moment to let his brain - and mouth - catch up, the mage shook his pink hair from side to side. "We'll go on that job today; 75,000 jewel, remember? You can have it all; screw that fine – you are _not_ opening that parcel!" He protested, finally managing to yank the object away and place it firmly on the bar.

"They can take me to _court_ over this, Natsu! Which means I could be sent to prison! They know who I am! Do you not understand any of this? They know me and so they'll know that my family is rich - they'll want a whole lot more than 75 thousand!" Lucy asserted firmly. She placed a steady palm over his tensed bicep to try comfort him and convince him otherwise. "Listen, I don't want to worry anyone else with this when it's probably nothing. If it turns out to be unpleasant, I promise you that we'll get help from the Master, Levy, Erza, whoever we need. I'm going to open it now, okay? You'll be right here by my side and you can watch the whole time and protect me if a big bad person somehow pops out of here, kay?" The golden-haired girl coaxed. When the man opposite her seemed to have no words left to change her mind, she released his arm, which, although still tense, was less shaky than it had been a few moments before. He slid it into the pocket of his trousers, feigning a casual appearance.

Gently, she grabbed the brown paper parcel from the bar and slid a finger under the tape along one side. She pulled the paper away ever-so-gently from the cardboard box that was inside. Folding the parcel paper neatly so she could (rather creepily) sniff the aroma in its full glory later when she was alone, she started to pry the box open at one side only to feel a warmth rush over her right forearm. Gasping at the sudden sensation, she heard Natsu also take a sharper intake of breath just a fraction later, bracing for the worst. Leaving the box lid opened but without looking inside, she brought her wrist up to study it.

 _Thank you for your compliance. The sender will be informed of your cooperation in this contract. We hope to do business with you again soon._

Lucy giggled, tilting her wrist for Natsu to see. "It's just to let me know I complied with the contract, Natsu. It's okay - see? You don't have to worry about me so much; I'm just fine." She affirmed, before the most genuine, sweetest smile that he'd ever witnessed from her crossed her features. It was one of those smiles you only saw maybe once or twice in your entire existence – one overflowing with soul and life. He stared at her for a very long while, trying to permanently imprint the breath-taking expression on her face into his brain for eternity. Unbeknownst to her, the gentle glow of the words imprinted into her forearm lit up her features, accentuating their softness and giving her skin the impression of flawless peachy alabaster that was illuminated from within. Breath hitched in his throat, Natsu prayed to any gods who would listen that time could halt and he could look at her radiant smile – gleaming with cadmium-coloured rays that seemed to gild her profile - for forever. Abruptly, the luminescence faded, the moment now lost, and Natsu was left noiselessly cursing the world for dangling such perfection from a single golden strand only to yank it away once he reached for it. Nevertheless, his lips curled too, and for another long moment they shared a smile.

Alas, the smiles quickly disappeared when the box started shaking gently on the bar beside them. Taking a moment to glance at each other once again, puzzled as each other, both mages leant to grab it. Natsu had anticipated Lucy to make a move for it, so he snatched it before her arm could even begin to advance. Snapping open the lid and reaching inside with the hopes of subduing what lay within, Natsu yelped and flung the package away after a harsh zap of hostile magical energy swallowed his hand. A jolt of intense pain seeped into his flesh as the box landed on one of the tables in the middle of the guildhall. He would describe it later as the feeling of electricity but in a liquid form, but at the time, all he registered was the pain. Lucy lurched forward to hold him, grabbing his stiff hand and studying the skin there for burns or damage. Nothing was visible but the usual creamy olive skin of his wrist, however. The damage clearly was not extreme.

"Don't you _dare_ , Lucy!" He growled, predicting her next move before she had even thought of it herself. But his words were left unheard over the clamour that had now erupted throughout the guildhall. Several mages were now convinced that they were under attack; some hearing the electric shock and assuming Laxus had returned; others confused as to how Laxus was back so early ("He only just left on a job!"); one or two hiding under tables because they were scared of the thunderstorm they thought had suddenly commenced. Lucy gracefully jumped from table to table, reminding Natsu of a wild cat, grabbing the box and shoving her hand inside, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she waited for the pain.

But none came.

She grasped the small cuboid shape in the box with one eye open and plucked it out cautiously. Holding the object rather loosely, as she did, proved to be an unsuccessful method of dealing with it. In her fuzzy state of mind, the rectangular prism easily overpowered her as, from her hand, it flew several feet away, hovering predatorily at her eye level from where she perched on a guildhall table.

Ignoring the pain that still shot aftershocks through him, Natsu clambered from the bar stool and started to hobble down the middle aisle to stand nearer to Lucy. Seemingly, the magic frazzled his brain and senses along with his arm - nothing would make much sense to him for a good half-hour, something that he would come to curse later on when forced to recount the details of how it all started.

Floating menacingly opposite Lucy, she studied the bizarre object whilst she had the chance. It was silver, with slightly curved edges and vertices. Protruding on one side was a smaller, thinner, ash black disc that seemed to feature some sort of screen, along with multiple wires - that extended then curved back into the disc - in a variety of colours. To Lucy, the two gadgets seemed to be of a completely different design - she'd have called them thoroughly unrelated judging on appearance alone; they looked as if they belonged on the opposite sides of Fiore. This observation left her confused, and so was startled when she heard her name being called from behind her.

"Lucy? What _is_ that?" Levy asked from her position at the door, having just walked in a few seconds prior, Gajeel at her heels. She seemed immediately distrustful of the object hovering a small way away from her friend, which was never a good sign. As Lucy turned to answer her friend the best she could, the parcel's contents decided it was the perfect moment to ambush her.

All Lucy registered was an intensely painful impact on her right forearm, feeling it bend unnaturally as the bones shifted, and a sudden mighty force that sent her flying backwards. For a second, she was deafened by the sudden _whoosh_ of air that seemed to blast past her (although she was the one doing the blasting) in a loud rush of noise.

Then the feeling of several steamrollers across her back. Lucy would have next felt burning waves of pain throughout her spine, shoulder blades, and ribs the moment she smashed against the guildhall wall - if it weren't for the fact that she promptly blacked out.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and it's characters.**

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